On the first Sunday in October 1848, the first service of the Church of the Transfiguration was held in a private home at 48 East 24th Street. At the time, this area was at the northern outskirts of the city. The original one-story Gothic Revival church and adjoining rectory were built in 1849-50, and added to in 1852. The Lady Chapel was built in 1906, and the mortuary chapel was added in 1908. Frederick Clarke Withers designed the 1896 "lych-gate" ("lych" is Saxon for "corpse"), which is a gateway covered with a roof, the traditional entrance to an English churchyard where the bier would be placed prior to burial. The church's picturesque but rambling style has been affectionately referred to as "The Holy Cucumber Vine."

It was in 1870 that Joseph Jefferson was rebuffed in arranging for the funeral of his friend, George Holland, an actor. Told that there was a little church around the corner where "they do that sort of thing," Jefferson fervently exclaimed, "God Bless the Little Church Around the Corner," and that famous benediction has echoed down through the years. This brought about a close relationship with the people of the theater which has continued to this day. It also brought about the founding, in 1923, of the Episcopal Actors' Guild, whose members have included Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Fontaine, Walter Hampden, Rex Harrison, and Charlton Heston, among others.

The Church of the Transfiguration was cited by the New York City Preservation Commission in 1967, and designated a United States Landmark in 1973.

The present organ was built in 1988 by C. B. Fisk, Inc., of Gloucester, Mass. Charles Nazarian’s visual design, inspired by the organ at St. Stephen’s Church, Old Radnor, Wales, complements the perpendicular Gothic style church. Located in a chapel at the crossing of the Nave and the South Transept, the organ is positioned to support congregational singing. Carved oak panels stained dark, with gilt and green accents, enhance the medieval atmosphere. The hammered lead façade pipes are taken from the 8' Prestant of the Great and the 4' Octave of the Pedal. The lower case has wrought iron gates designed and built by Miranda Fisk, as well as twelve quatrefoil bas-relief plaques carved by parishioner and artist Daniel Maloney.

The organ’s tonal design is guided by historical traditions; to accompany the choir, support the congregational singing, and to play the breadth of organ repertoire for services as well as concerts. Charles Fisk provided the original concept of a German Baroque Great, Pedal and Brustwerk, augmented by a nineteenth century French Swell.

Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes

16

Bourdon

58

2

[

Fifteenth

58

8

Prestant

58

[

Mixture V-VIII ranks

?

8

Spire Flute

58

8

Cornet V (TC)

170

8

Harmonic Flute

58

8

Trumpet

58

4

Octave

58

8

Cromorne

58

4

Rohrflöte

58

Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed

8

Gambe

58

2

[

Doublette

58

8

Voix céleste

58

[

Fourniture III ranks

116

8

Cor de nuit

58

16

Dulcian

58

4

Spitzflute

58

8

Trompette

58

2 2/3

[

Quinte

58

8

Hautbois

58

[

Sesquialtera II ranks

58

Brustwerk (Manual III) – 58 notes

8

Stopt Diapason

58

8

Regal

58

4

Flute

58

4

Schawm

58

2

[

Waldflöte

58

[

Double Cymbel III ranks

116

Pedal Organ – 30 notes

16

Open Bass

30

8

Bourdon * (ext.)

12

16

[

Bourdon *

30

4

[

Octave

30

16+32

[

Bourdon * [ext., no low C#]

11

[

Mixture IV ranks

90

8

Baarpijp

30

16

Trombone

30

* located near the high altar and played by electric action

Couplers

Great to Pedal

Swell to Great

Swell to Pedal

Brustwerk to Great

Brustwerk to Pedal

Brustwerk to Swell

Accessories

Tremulant [entire organ]

Wind Stabilizer

Zimbelstern [5 bells]

Mechanical Combination Action

2 pairs of adjustable pedals – On & Off – for each Left (SW & PED) jamb and Right (GT& BW) jamb

Double-Draw Stops

Bracketed pairs of stops are controlled by a single knob.
Drawing the knob halfway brings on the first stop; drawing it fully brings on the second stop.

The organ at the rear of the church was built in 1968 by the Van Zoeren-Steinkampf Organ Co., a partnership of Allan Van Zoeren and Jack H. Steinkampf. There are three divisions installed in the former Chantry Organ chamber above the narthex, and the handsome Gothic case (with new front pipes) was retained from the 1927 Austin Organ (Op. 1554). These divisions were playable from the Austin console in the chancel. A total of 24 ranks of pipes speak on electro-mechanical chests, including the first horizontal reed (chamade) built by Mr. Steinkampf. Peter Batchelder voiced the organ and installed a new blower in the nearby tower. In the late 1980s, when the chancel organ was removed in preparation for the new Fisk organ, a second-hand [Möller?] console was connected to the antiphonal divisions by Mann & Trupiano of Brooklyn, allowing them to serve as the church's organ for a period of about four years until the Fisk was installed. The console has since been removed, the blower has burned out, and the organ is not currently playable.

In November 1935, the M. P. Möller company was contracted to reconstruct the tonal scheme of the 1927 Austin organ. The cost of this rebuilding was only $2,900, no doubt due to scarcity of work during the Depression. Although the Austin organ was in very fine mechanical condition, its tonal resources were described as having "the old type of tubby and fluty tone." The scheme was drawn up by Hugh McAmis in consultation with Franklin Coates, organist of the church, and Richard O. Whitelegg of Möller, who oversaw final tonal finishing. Möller revoiced many Austin ranks, retained the Austin Universal chests, and added several new ranks on new electro-pneumatic chests. The Great Organ, most of which was enclosed with the Choir Organ, was unenclosed. The Austin console was retained and refitted with new stop keys as necessary. Over time, this console failed due to its location directly above the church furnace, and was replaced by a new Austin console sometime around 1968. Following is the Factory Specification (Dec. 2, 1935) showing that the Great 8' Flute Triangulaire was changed to an 8' Wald Flute, as noted in Möller correspondence of Dec. 12, 1925.

In 1927, the church commissioned a new three-manual organ to be built by the Austin Organ of Hartford. PIpes were installed in a chamber that extended below floor level at the right side of the chancel. It seems likely that the Chantry organ was retained from the previous Geo. S. Hutchings organ. The detached stop-key console was placed amid choir stalls in the divided chancel.

The Diapason (Oct. 1, 1911) announced that Hutchings was contracted to electrify their 1895 organ, add a new movable console, and install a Chantry organ at the West End of the church. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.

The orginal organ in the Church of the Transfiguration was built in 1852 by Henry Crabb of Flatbush, L.I. As noted in the 1861 American Musical Directory, the organ had "2 banks keys, 18 stops, 1 octave pedals." Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.